


Life is not a song

by Golden_Daughter



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2020-02-28 09:09:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 9,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18753331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_Daughter/pseuds/Golden_Daughter
Summary: Various Tumblr fills for the ASOIAF fandom.





	1. Tumblr Game- Catelyn- Peace, Jaime- Sleep and Ned- Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @1nsaan

##  **Catelyn Stark, Peace**

Catelyn had always cherished peace, cultivated it all around her, built a beautiful, sheltered life for herself and her family away from the seething rush of the Southern reaches.  
She looks into Ned’s conflicted eyes and softly urges him to take up the King’s offer, knowing in her bones that their transient peace was on the verge of breaking.  
Yet, what else could she do? She lived above all for her family, her duty and their honor. She and Ned could not refuse the King, could not abandon their duty.  
Catelyn rued that decision for the rest of her life. She should have held on to her Ned, to their children, to their peace and happiness and plenty, she thinks on cold nights, when she tosses and turns as the world teeters on to war.  
Catelyn knew that she had lost her peace. 

 

##  **Jaime Lannister, Sleep**

In his childhood, Jaime slept the peaceful sleep of the innocent, sheltered child, secure in his home, under his parents’ protecting hands, holding on tightly to mama.  
Jaime grew up when mama left. (He refused to think that she died, mama couldn’t die like that.) Not for him the security of sleep in mama’s arms anymore. Father said that he was a big boy now, that he should be responsible. Jaime knew that. He was Tyrion’s big brother now, and Tyrion needed him. He’d promised mama that he’d protect Tyrion.  
So Jaime learnt to sleep alone (never truly alone, for he had Cersei, but they were one).  
When Jaime left to squire, he’d sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow, sleep the deep sleep of the tired child. Every day, he’d awake refreshed and raring to go.  
Before the Battle of the Kingswood Brotherhood, Jaime couldn’t sleep. He was too excited to. He felt that finally, finally, he was becoming a man.  
Jaime kept vigil the night they won over the Smiling Knight. He didn’t sleep. He thought about the oath of Knighthood, of protecting innocents, of his vow to his mama. He kept thinking all night. Of whether Father would be proud, whether he would be able to live up to the oaths of Knighthood. Of course he would, he thought, dismissing that thought easily. He was Jaime Lannister, and the world was in his hands.  
Tossing and turning in his bed in the White Sword Tower, ears still ringing with screams (the screams of the people who were burned, the screams in his dreams, of those he loved; Mama, Cersei, Tyrion, so many people screaming), he’d remember the certainty with which he had taken the oath of the Kingsguard, the certainty that he had lost.  
He regained his certainty the day he slit Aerys Targaryen’s throat, only to lose it the same day. Jaime’s eyes turn wide and horrified as he stares at the Princess Elia’s ravished body, at the mangled remains of what used to be Rhaenys and Aegon.  
He was haunted in his sleep by the ghosts of those he failed, and he remained so haunted forevermore. Haunted by the words that hurt so, for all that he pretended they did not. Kingslayer, Oathbreaker, man without honour. By the shades of those he should have protected. By the shadow of the man he could have been…

 

##  **Eddard Stark, Life**

Ned slipped in and out of reality in the silence of the Black Cells. Sitting there, alone in the dark, he thought about his own life, for there was naught else he could do, except fear for his children and his wife.  
Is that all his life had amounted to? Fear?  
No, Ned thought. He had adhered to honor, taught his children the best that he could, and yet. Ned knew that he could die and he didn’t want to leave his life undone. He wanted to hold Cat close, to see his children grow, he wanted so many things…  
Ned took a deep breath. He was to lose his life one day, he had known that a long time ago. Soldiers lose their lives in war, and this was no less than war.  
He could see bright light somewhere, light that made him flinch. When he opened his eyes, Lord Varys was there.  
Ned did not pay attention to the man’s words, until he said Sansa’s name. Sansa. Gods. His daughter.  
In a split second, Ned made his decision. His honor was important, yes, but not as much as his children’s lives. As Sansa’s life, and Arya’s.  
If he had to hold on to his life at the cost of his honor, he would. For all the people he loved.


	2. Jaime/Elia Modern Ballet AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime/Elia; Ballet AU, inspired by Starlight_Asteria's Lead on, Sir.

Ashara, as usual, was dragging Elia along to yet another of her brother’s ballet performances. Elia liked the music, but didn’t really understand the dance, for all that Arthur earnestly tried to interest her in his “art”.  
As they entered the Golden Star ballet theatre, Elia was startled at the crowds thronging the theatre. She looked quizzically at Ashara. “They’re performing Lancelot and Guinevere.” Oh. Elia understood. As they entered the viewing box, Elia noticed her mother with a friend. “Mother!” She called. Arielle Martell smiled at her daughter, inviting her and Ashara to sit with her. “So, Ari, this young lady is your daughter?” Mama nods. “Elia, Joanna,” she introduced them with her usual perfunctory courtesy. “Lady Lannister?” chirps Ashara. “I was not aware you are interested in ballet.” The golden-haired woman laughs. “I am not,” she says. “Jaime is, and he admires Arthur Dayne. My son’s your brother’s understudy and standby.” Elia doesn’t understand, but Ashara apparently does, for she nods along.  
The curtains rise, and the audience waits with bated breath. Rhaella Targaryen glides ethereally into the role of Guinevere, but where Arthur should be, there’s a much younger man, nearly a boy. Joanna has a proud smile on her face. “Ah, I am glad you brought me along, Ari.” Arielle grins at her friend. “Mama bear, Jo? Or should that be mama lion?” Elia rolls her eyes, as Joanna Lannister swats mother.  
The boy-Jaime, his name is Jaime, is a very different dancer from Arthur. Arthur’s dance forms are almost obsessively perfect, exact. Jaime exudes life, the dance seeming naturally his. Every single pose seems charged with emotion, to the extent that when he sighs, the entire audience sighs with him. Elia enjoys a ballet performance for the first time in her life.  
When the curtains fall, Rhaella and Jaime receive a standing ovation. They ascend the viewer’s box and Elia hears Rhaella laugh. “You remind me a lot of your mother,” she says. Jaime laughs back. “What can I say, my Lady?” He bows elegantly. “I am my mother’s son.” He notices them then. His face splits in a grin as he exuberantly drags Rhaella to them. “Mama!” Joanna ruffles his hair. “Little lionknight,” she lilts, amused pride in her voice. Rhaella and Joanna hug, and Jaime turns to her, bowing again, a grin on his face. “Might I have the pleasure of knowing you, my Lady?” Ashara rolls her eyes. “You never change, do you?” Jaime shakes his head, his blonde locks getting tousled. Elia curtsies to him. “Elia Martell, my Lord.” Jaime winks at her. Mother glances at her, and Elia nods. Jaime Lannister seemed interesting.  
Monday evening was even more of a drag than usual. In the Greenglade Library, where Elia worked, a few diehard patrons showed no sign of budging, and Ashara had taken a day off. Elia was dreaming of castles in the air when she heard tittering at her side. It was Claire, the boy-mad intern. “Elia, did you see?” Elia squinted confusedly at her. “There’s a young man. In the arts section.” Another one of her conquests? Elia wondered distractedly, letting her drag Elia into the arts section. There indeed was a young man, looking absorbed in a book on Tchaikovsky’s ballet compositions. He raised his head at the sound of their footsteps, and smiled at her. “Elia! I was looking for you,” he spoke, his voice a dulcet baritone. Why was Jaime Lannister looking for her? She wondered. “Do you work here?” he asks. Elia nods. He smiles charmingly at her. “I-“ he hesitates, then speaks, his words rushed, almost mangled. “D’ya wanna go for-for coffee with me?” Elia is gobsmacked. Is he meaning what she thinks he is? Claire nudged her. Taking her surprise for dissent, he lowers his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I overstepped my boundaries.” “No!” Elia exclaims. “I would be delighted to!” Jaime glows like she had handed the Sun to him and shyly takes her hand, raising it to his lips. “The pleasure is all mine,” he whispers, voice husky.  
Jaime and Elia sit in a table for two, sipping lattes. At first, it is a little awkward, but once they start talking, they do not stop. When Jaime drops Elia home, she does not want to let go.  
Their relationship gets evermore closer in a whirlwind of whispered endearments, of clumsy kisses, of fervent promises. On her birthday, Jaime is on his knees in front of her. “Will you be my better half, my lady Martell?” he asks, his tone laughing and sincere at once. Elia tugs him to his feet and hugs him. “Always,” she says, as earnestly as he.  
Their wedding is on a sunny June day. As Jaime and she speak their oaths, Elia’s stomach swoops. “You may now kiss the bride,” the pastor intones. Elia claims Jaime’s lips in a kiss that leaves them both gasping. Her Jaime looks radiant, she thinks. The future awaited the both of them, bright and golden.


	3. Jaime/Elia- First time and last time they saw each other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @betza_99

1\. Casterly Rock was shrouded in grief when Elia entered it for the first time. Elia’s heart ached at the frank despair on everyone’s faces, despair that was echoed on Mother’s face, too, for Lady Joanna Lannister had gone to the Gods. Mother took a deep breath, preparing herself for the last sight of her friend’s mortal body. Elia took Mother’s hand, silently trying to give her strength.  
They ascended the Septry, and she could see a child kneeling at the Septon’s side. Mother flinched. Elia looked at her, confused, but was distracted as the boy spoke. “Septon, you said that the Gods give us what we want if we pray hard enough. If I pray while keeping vigil, will they give my mama back to us? I promise I’ll be good, I just want mama back.” The Septon shook his head in quiet sorrow, and Elia’s eyes closed in sympathy. The boy whirled, his eyes wide and filled with tears. “Mama, you promised you’ll never leave us!” he exclaimed, his voice breaking, tears falling down his face. Elia and Mother stood back, not willing to intrude on his grief. Suddenly, he stood, back straight, eyes clear. “Father said it’s my duty as mama’s first born son to stay with her now. Even if she couldn’t stay with us, I will be at her side, Septon.” His voice was mature, all of a sudden. Elia looked at him with silent admiration as she and Mother ducked back quietly. “Joanna,” said Mother, once they were clear of the Sept, “Jaime is truly your son in spirit.”

Elia waved at Jaime and Tyrion. Jaime waved back as Tyrion babbled unintelligibly. Jaime and Elia smiled at each other, sparkles in their eyes.

2\. Elia’s eyes flickered upwards, expecting to see one of the infamous Brotherhood, come to threaten her and her ladies once more. Instead, there is a boy in red and gold armour inclining his head to her. “Princess”, he says quietly, extending his hand to her. Elia takes it. “Ser.” “I am no knight, my lady,” he replies with a smile. “Just Jaime.” Elia gives him a once over. “Just Jaime, my lord?” Both Elia and Jaime laugh at that.

She watches as Jaime kneels in front of the King, swearing the Oath of the Kingsguard. She watches as he leaves his old identity behind with the innocence of a young boy. She watches, for she knows what is to come.

3\. Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard is different from the laughing boy she had seen before, Elia thought, looking at the silent, white cloaked knight at her side. His green eyes are dull, drawn inward.   
Rhaenys runs in, launching herself at Ser Jaime. He catches her and throws her in the air, laughing. “Princess!” Rhaenys hugs him. “I like you,” she says with the candidness of a child. “You aren’t like the other Kingsguard.” Elia hides a smile at her daughter’s frankness, even as Jaime laughs back at her, the spark back in his eyes.

Rhaenys holds on tight to Jaime, who ruffles her hair. “Princess,” he says, “Stay safe with Balerion, alright?” He looks at Elia, a silent message in his eyes. Elia nods back.  
She never sees Jaime again.


	4. Catelyn and Ned; Three things, and Three kindnesses.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @allegoriesinmediasres

## A. 3 things that Catelyn stole and one thing that was stolen from her 

1\. Mother’s death hits father the hardest. Hard enough that, in the first days after they lost her, he locks in all her things, where he thinks no one can find them. Catelyn does, however, and filches mother’s favorite moonstone brooch, pinning it to her breast. Mother always said that moonstones should be seen in the light of the day.

 

2\. Edmure’s favorite blanket, that her brother delighted in dragging everywhere, for it had grown threadbare. However, before she had stolen his old blanket, she had replaced it with an identical one that she had knitted on her own.

 

3\. On the days after father’s bad days, when he would drink copiously and get maudlin Catelyn would quietly suborn a servant into hiding father’s vintage wines from the cellar, instead replacing it with grape juice of the highest quality. She knew that his bad days came when he missed mother, and she did not want father to visit the specter of days long gone more than necessary.

 

+1. Catelyn’s eyes go wide as she discerns the first strains of “The Rains of Castamere”. She springs to her feet, but too late. The massacre had begun. By the end of it, the Freys and the Lannisters had stolen Catelyn’s life from her, forever altering the woman she had been.

## B. 3 times Eddard Stark was kind and one time he was cruel 

1\. Ned winks at Lyanna as he leaves his sword in a secluded corner of the armory. Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, his sister is at his side, clamoring to hold his sword. Ned laughs, and lets her, gently correcting her grip.

 

2\. “Vayon,” Ned calls. “Make plans for a Septry, for my Lady Catelyn’s prayers need not be done on cold stone in seclusion.” His lady wife looks at him in surprised gratification, murmuring a “Thank you, my Lord,” her eyes meeting his, and Ned is as happy as she is.

 

3\. “Dancing lessons, father?” asks Arya. Ned nods. “The Braavosi art of swords is called Water Dancing. Do you not want to use that Needle of yours?” he asks with a glance at her. His daughter stares at him for a moment, shocked, before she rushes to him, wrapping around his middle in a hug. ‘Thank you, Father!’ Ned holds her close.

 

+1. Ice cuts through Sansa’s direwolf with ease, and Ned feels sick to his stomach.

 

**Or**

 

+1. “Kingslayer,” Ned Stark says contemptuously, not knowing of the courage of a young man that had saved half a million people, not knowing of his desperation to remain true to the oaths of knighthood at the cost of his honor.

 

Just at the door of the room, Ned’s voice reaches Jaime Lannister’s ears, and the last remnants of childish innocence, of the stars still left in his eyes, die away.


	5. Conversations and Non-conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 conversations + 1 for Elia and Rhaella as well as Ned and Catelyn.  
> For @allegoriesmediasinres

**Elia and Rhaella**

1\. Rhaella stands as her good daughter enters her chambers hesitantly. “Your Grace.” “Call me Mother, Elia”, Rhaella says easily. The young woman smiles at her. “Mother,” she says, the word warming Rhaella’s heart. She stokes the fire as she notices that Elia is shivering, and Elia shoots a gratified look at her. “The rest of the Seven Kingdoms are very different from Dorne, child,” Rhaella tells her quietly. There is fear in Elia’s eyes for a split second, before it is quickly masked. Rhaella takes her hand. “Fear not, I am with you,” she assures Elia. Elia holds her hand tight.  
2\. Rhaella and Elia are sitting in a circle of ladies, when Alayne, one of Rhaella’s oldest ladies-in-waiting pipes in, “Princess, your knitting is very like Princess Arielle’s.” Rhaella looks at the interwoven pattern of Suns and Spears, Arielle’s face flashing in her mind. Elia inclines her head. “Thank you, my lady,” she says. She turns to Rhaella then. “You and mother were friends in your girlhood, were you not, goodmother?” she asks. Rhaella nods. “I, Arielle, and Joanna were nigh on inseparable then,” she says. At Rhaella’s side, the Kingsgaurd knight starts slightly. Green eyes snap to hers, and Rhaella smiles. Joanna’s eyes. So this was her son. She beckoned both Elia and Joanna’s son closer, bidding the boy to remove his helm and sit. He did, looking like he was getting an unexpected nameday gift. Rhaella talks of her girlhood friends, easing the nostalgic ache in all their hearts some.  
3\. Rhaella looks at Elia, relief in her eyes. “Come, daughter,” she says gently. “We are leaving for Dragonstone. I convinced the King that you should accompany us.” Elia looks back at Rhaella, inclining her head in wordless thanks.  
+1. The babe looks very Dornish, not a Targaryen at all. Rhaella works hard to curtail her disappointment, but it comes out of her lips nonetheless. “She looks Dornish.” Rhaella says without meaning to. “She is of Dorne,” says Elia, gazing right back at Rhaella, head held high. 

 

**Eddard and Catelyn**

1\. “My lady”, Ned says awkwardly, conscious of the babe in his arms. His mind and heart warred with each other, as he notices his lady wife look uneasily at the child. Ned met her gaze and listened to his mind. “This is Lyanna’s son. I found him in Dorne, in the Tower of Joy. Lya-“ his voice breaks, and he is furiously blinking away tears that are threatening to fall. Although his vision is blurry, he feels her take his hand. “I am with you, my Lord,” Catelyn says quietly.   
2\. Ned awoke with a jolt, visions of his dying sister merging with those of Bran and Father, killed in the Red Keep. He did not want to go South ever again. At his side, Catelyn rouses slightly. “Ned? What is it?” His wife looks at him, concerned. The words pour out of him of their own accord. Catelyn listens to every word and then, uncharacteristically, holds Ned close to her. “Oh, Ned.” She says nothing else. But she does not need to, for he feels lighter than he had in years.  
3\. “Ned.” Catelyn looks serious, and Ned rises from his desk. “What is it?” he asks. “Sansa-“ Catelyn stops for a moment, then starts again, her tones clear. “Ned, our daughters are growing now.” Ned is confused. He knows that. He thinks of how rapidly Arya is growing, reminding him more and more of Lya every passing day. He thinks of Sansa, growing more formal and distant by the day. “Sansa needs you too.” Catelyn says, and Ned starts. “What do I do?” he blurts out. He had never understood how to make sense of his daughter, so Southern in temperament. “You just need to be there for her, Ned,” Cat says. Ned nods. He resolves to try.  
+1. “Who was it?” Catelyn’s tones are ice. “Who mothered the boy?   
Was it Ashara Dayne, as I have heard?” Ned keeps his own voice cold, stance stiff as he answers “She was someone I love. Do not speak of this again, my Lady.” Catelyn does not, but she is colder to Jon from that day on.


	6. Arianne's first crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon divergent Jaime/Arianne  
> For anon on Tumblr

The first time Arianne sees Ser Jaime Lannister, he looks almost like a knight out of the stories in spite of the fact that he is nearly falling off his horse.  
Aunt Elia says that Ser Jaime got hurt defending her. Arianne looks at him. He does look hurt. But he smiles at her, shaking his golden head, and Arianne thinks he looks perfect.  
When Ari waits and waits for Father to finish his work, Ser Jaime joins her sometimes. He is patient with her, answering all her questions. He tells her funny stories, and even takes her for rides on his shoulders.  
Aunt Elia sees them and laughs. “Well, Ari,” she says, laughingly, “Enjoy this for now.” “For now, aunt?” Ari is confused. “Someday, you’ll grow up, and you won’t be able to do all this.” Aunt Elia sounds very serious and Ari gets even more confused, until she understands.  _Oh. One day, she will have to grow up. Grown up people do grown up things. Like marry other grown ups._  Ari has an idea. “No, Aunt Elia,” she says, her voice sure. “I can do this always!” “Really?” Aunt Elia asks. “What about when you have to marry?” “I’ll marry Ser Jaime!” Arianne says innocently.  
Ser Jaime is looking at her, wide eyed. Aunt Elia laughs. Arianne doesn’t understand why Ser Jaime looks so strange. She runs up to the knight and hugs him. “It’s okay, Ser Jaime, I won’t marry now, you have a lot of time.” She says seriously. He laughs at her. “When the time comes, we shall see.” He says.


	7. Drabbles- Elia and Rhaegar; Doran and Oberyn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @1nsaan

##  **Elia and Rhaegar**

Their  **first impression** of each other

Elia supposed the Targaryen Prince was good looking and well-read, from what she could gather based on their meeting for the first time. But, Elia thought, there was something unsettling in his eyes when he spoke of esoteric things that were of no concern to Elia.

And, try as she might, she could not find the spark of life in him that had made her love Arthur so.

Elia Martell was proud, Rhaegar thought. She did not behave as a demure lady ought to, conscious of her status. Instead, she held her head high, looking directly into Rhaegar’s eyes. Perhaps, it was a Dornish trait. She was indeed exotically beautiful, and courteous, but Rhaegar did not find what he wanted in her so that they could save the world together, to his great sadness.

The  **next universe**  over

Prince Elvar Martell smiled as the Princess Rhaenna Targaryen curtsied. “Princess”, he said quietly, “This is to be your home, and you will be treated with honour here, be assured of that.”

Rhaenna, however, takes a long time to discard her prejudiced attitudes towards Dorne. Elvar is patient and understanding as much as he can be, and she comes around in time.

Elvar and Rhaenna share a fond marriage, and Elvar keeps his wife’s honour unbesmirched. Together, they rule Dorne competently.

The **best gift** one gave the other

Rhaenys and Aegon. However much Elia might resent Rhaegar Targaryen, Rhaenys and Aegon are hers, the centre of her world.

The  **worst memory**  one has of the other

“He already has a song. The Song of Ice and Fire.” Elia wanted to claw at Rhaegar’s face for not caring. Not caring for Aegon as a child. No, all that mattered to him was his precious prophecy, and Aegon was merely to be his instrument. Elia swore that she would never let that happen.

Their  **last** fight/disagreement

“It was necessary, Elia, to save the world.” Rhaegar says, secure in his delusions. Elia says nothing. She simply didn’t care anymore.

##   **Doran and Oberyn**

Their  **first** impression of each other

Doran is near a man grown when Oberyn is born, loud and lusty and as different from Elia as night from day. And yet, Oberyn calms when he is near Elia, and Doran thinks that yes, Elia and Oberyn would be formidable together.

As indeed they were, before dragons tore them apart from each other.

Oberyn forms a not very flattering impression of his eldest brother at first, thinking of prudence as weakness, but as he grows, he learns of his brother’s spine of steel.

The  **next** universe over

The Ruling Prince Oberyn is grateful for his younger brother’s counsel, but the Targaryens and the Lannisters cost them Elia, dear Elia, whose spirit wanted for justice, and he will not sit idle.

Instead, Dorne secedes from Robert Baratheon’s reign, and wrecks havoc in the rest of Westeros on the men who cost them their Princess.

Only then is Dorne satisfied.

The  **best** gift one gave the other

Doran and Oberyn were two sides of a coin, and the best gift they can give each other is perspective. On any situation, so that they can understand everything better.

The  **worst**  memory one has of the other

The utter hopelessness in Oberyn’s eyes that Doran remembers once they heard of Elia’s death. The hope and optimism that never returned, never.

Their  **last**  fight/disagreement

Oberyn had almost screamed himself hoarse, when Doran spoke quietly but with feeling.

“Oberyn, Elia would not have wanted this. Elia would want you to live, happy and loved.”

“How can I ever be happy Doran? She is not there anymore. I have to try and get her justice.”

“Oberyn. Don’t…” Doran’s throat choked, but Oberyn heard what was unsaid. He smiles sadly. “Either Elia would get her justice, or she would get her brother,” he says quietly. Doran could say nothing, only watch as his little brother left.


	8. Various Characters; various memes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @betza_99

**1\. Aemon for who inspires him**  
Without a doubt, it is Naerys who inspires Aemon from the dawn of their lives. Naerys and her quiet persistence, Naerys who had to fight from the beginning for life itself. Naerys gives Aemon strength when everything seems to be falling apart after Lady Larra Rogare left. (He will not think of her as “Mother”, never.) The desire to protect Naerys, her honor and her sense of self, runs strong in Aemon throughout his life, even making him, paradoxically, protect Aegon of all people (Men were already slandering Naerys’s honor, and Aemon let the King die, the tongues would wag. Aemon would normally care naught for that, but it would hurt Ryssie. Ryssie and Daeron, the boy who is the hope of the future.) For both their sakes, Aemon would do anything, no matter how distasteful.  
And so he finds himself struggling for breath having protected their letch of a King. His last thought is of his sister and her son.  
  


 **2\. Elia for how she keeps calm.**  
Whenever Aerys Targaryen drones on about Elia’s inferiority, trying to get a raise out of her, Elia thinks of Dorne. Of the breezes scented with blood oranges, of the sun shining on the dome of the Old Palace.  
In Dorne, Elia was a Princess in truth, to her eternal pride. She would not forget that. She remains a Martell, and to respond to vile words is to break. Elia will not do that. She will remain unbowed, unbent, unbroken.  
When innocent men burn, Elia remembers her ladies, who can pay for any mistake she does. She is responsible for them, and she will carry out her duties unflinchingly, for their sakes, she thinks.  
Unbowed, unbent, unbroken, chants Elia, as she forces herself to remain calm.

 **Jaime for Four Cardinal Virtues meme**  
Since you asked for Justice, buddy, and since I love Jaime to bits, I’m doing all the virtues. Enjoy!

 **Prudence**  
fools rush in | a stitch in time | **hard times for dreamers** | tact ( or lack thereof) | silence is the most powerful scream | foresight/telepathy/psychic AU  
“He is mine now, not Tywin’s” hisses the King, and Jaime Lannister, the youngest of the Kingsguard, looks up at His Grace in mute obedience, the stars in his eyes dying already.   
He steps into the Queen’s chambers with a bow. Looking at that familiar face, Rhaella almost blurts out an old friend’s name. She looks at the boy, a smile on his face as he plays with an excited Rhaenys, and sees Joanna. Joanna who’d dreamt that her love for her husband kept her safe. Joanna who had smiled, and smiled, and hid behind her smiles as her dreams shattered.  
When King Aerys burns an innocent man, Jaime steps forward, for what he does not know. Ser Barristan stops him. Jaime knows then that the vows of knighthood, the dreams of chivalry were all false.  
Jaime realizes that truth even more as he listens to the Queen pleading, unable to go away inside, and he rues that he had ever believed in the lie, the dream.  
  


 **Temperance**  
a secret indulgence | in vino veritas | hold the reins | the mark of a child |  **a virtue in those who can afford it**  | crossover*  
“Burn them all!” The Mad King repeats the same words over and over, and Jaime stands, stock still. He can hear Ser Darry’s voice in his head, saying “We have to obey the King. For it is honor that binds us to do so.” But, Jaime thinks, what of the people of King’s Landing? Half a million people? He cannot doom them for the sake of his own honor, that would be against the vows of knighthood he swore.  
Jaime took a deep breath as he unsheathed his sword. He could not afford honor now. He had to do what he must.

 **Courage**  
no sin greater than inaction | **mastery of fear, not absence of fear** | dulce et decorum est | faint heart never won fair lady | the last laugh laughs best | fairy tale/myth AU  
Jaime’s heart thudded in his chest. He held his sword in sweaty hands, shaky yet firm. As the Smiling Knight swayed, nearly taking Ser Arthur’s head off, Jaime threw himself across.  
Ser Arthur smiled gratefully at him, as he rolled away. Jaime’s heart thudded still, making a mockery of his actions. Yet still he preserved, for he was to be a knight one day.  
Ser Arthur’s sword slit Jaime’s tunic, and fear rose anew in him. Fear that he may not be able to fulfill the vows. Jaime dismissed these fears.  
He was Jaime Lannister, firstborn son of the Lady Joanna and Lord Tywin.  
Jaime’s voice rings clear as he says “I do so swear!”. 

He rises a knight.  
 **  
**

 **Justice**  
what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander | laws are spider webs | judge jury and executioner | each man makes his own prison |  **two sides to every story** | noir/detective AU  
Lord Eddard Stark had no right to look at him so, Jaime thought. Had Lord Stark himself not broken his oaths of fealty to Aerys? Had Ser Barristan not done the same?  
Why was Jaime the one who was judged and found guilty? Why?  
He never found the answer to that question.


	9. Aemon the Dragonknight- War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @sayruq on Tumblr.

##  **Aemon the Dragonknight, War**

Aemon loved the stories of true Knights as a child. The fables of Ser Serwyn of the Mirror Shield, the fables of the legendary Kingsguard. In his childish innocence, Aemon decided that he, too, will be a true Knight. He’ll protect innocents, women and children.  
Mayhaps, then, Father would be proud of him.  
And so, armed with idealistic, hopeful determination, Aemon excels at the sword, inviting praise from the Master-at-arms.  
And yet, Father, when he hears of the Master-at-arms’s effusive praise of Aemon, has shadowed eyes. Aemon is left wondering if he had disappointed Father in some way.  
Father’s shadowed eyes flash before Aemon as his sword effortlessly beheads a man in pitched battle for the first time. Aemon understood the truth of war then. War was never glory, he understood, for life was never song and story. War, Aemon knew, was the worst thing that could ever happen.  
That is why, when Daeron means to attack Dorne, Aemon is one of his Father’s most fervent supporters, fighting against war.   
Yet, when Daeron left for Dorne, Aemon was at the forefront of the war effort, for he had to safeguard his King.   
Naerys’s tearful blessings echo in his ears as he fights for his King’s cause.  
At the end of every battle, Aemon’s eyes stare unseeing at the destruction wreaked on the sands of Dorne.  
Is such senseless loss of life ever justified? Aemon wondered.  
He knew it was not.   
Yet, Aemon Targaryen wielded his sword as best as he could. For that was his duty ( _and he could never be Larra Rogare, never run away from his duty, never be Aegon and forsake duty for pleasure_.)  
Aemon warred all his life, and yet, he lost. Never a battle, but the war.  
For, in his own mind, he could never be the Knight he wanted to be.


	10. Different Headcanons- Aelinor Penrose and Shiera Seastar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @Riana1

**Aelinor**  
A) Realistic: Aelinor always was very conscious of the power of the quill. After all, was that not her house’s sigil?  
For her, knowledge opened worlds, even as a child. She was ever unafraid of asking questions and giving answers. At her childhood home, her precociousness was a source of joy, and, sometimes, amusement.  
When she entered the court of Kings’ Landing, only then she found that the rest of Westeros considered women of knowledge heretics, not least her husband.  
But Aelinor remained as she was. How could she change something that was such a fundamental part of herself, even for her husband?  
Even if she could, she would not.  
  


B) Hilarious: When Aelinor was innocent in the ways of the world, she had cherished a fond dream of becoming a Maester. Being the determined child she was, she had even packed all the necessities (as it seemed to her) for the journey to Oldtown. Only when she came to know that she had to forswear her family to become a Maester did she relent and stay home.  
  


C) Heart-crushing and awful: Long after her marriage, Aelinor could not stop thinking of herself as less than desirable, for all that she knew that it was Aerys at fault, in her heart, she could never stop finding fault in her own self.   
  


D) Unrealistic: Aelinor fulfills her childhood dream of becoming a woman of learning, and yet stays close to her family.

**Shiera**

A) Realistic: Shiera never felt close to her father, the King Aegon. From her childhood, Prince Daeron was the man she looked up to, and Princess Mariah the mother she never had. Infact, when asked about her father, Shiera would remain quiet, not daring to speak her mind.  
Which was that His Grace King Aegon IV Targaryen absolutely deserved the moniker “The Unworthy”.

B) Hilarious: When people began to theorize about Shiera’s “bastard qualities”, it hurt in the beginning, but she soon learnt to laugh it off. She even added a few rumors about herself to the mill, like the one about her bathing in blood. Brynden and she had a good laugh as they thought of more and more ridiculous rumors to come up with.  
  


C) Heart-crushing and awful: Shiera had a very insecure childhood, pitted against her own brothers and sisters, something that made her seek attention. That is why she took to acting like she did not care about anything, when, in reality, she cared a lot what others thought of her.  
  


D) Unrealistic: Serenei does not die in childbirth (GRRM, I’m sick of all these ladies dying in childbirth, really) and Shiera grows up in Lys with her mother, having a happy, fulfilling life. 


	11. Different Headcanons- Elia, Quentyn and Oberyn.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @1nsaan

Elia

A) Realistic: Elia was a true Princess of Dorne. The Water Gardens were her favourite place, because that was where she could forget her duties and be a child, utterly uninhabited in spite of her frequent illnesses. She also liked the Water Gardens because she met Arthur and Ashara Dayne there for the first time. 

B) Hilarious: Elia was a very weird drunk. As Arthur found to his grief when he had gotten Elia drunk for a dare, because she ended up dragging him to Oberyn’s rooms and dressing in Oberyn’s clothes, fully intending to go into the streets of Sunspear. Arthur had a hard time dragging Elia back to her own chambers.

C) Heart-crushing and awful: Elia had to watch the deaths of both Aegon and Rhaenys, utterly powerless to prevent it, however hard she had fought.

D) Unrealistic: Jaime Lannister saved Elia and her children from the Mountain and Armory Lorch, they lived safe and sound in Dorne for many years. (Because Jaime/Elia is something I like, they also had a very close relationship with Jaime.)

 

Quentyn

A) Realistic: Quentyn always respected his father, and strived to uphold his honour (like how Egg does with Maekar) in the castle of the Yronwoods. Soon, nobody insulted Prince Doran Martell in his hearing, because he was a veritable demon when roused.

B) Hilarious: When Quentyn was a very young child, he came upon Doran and Mellario in bed and wanted to join his parents in the wrestling just to see what the fuss about it was.

C) Heart-crushing and awful: Quentyn’s last coherent thought before his death was that he had failed his father, that he couldn’t do his duty to either his father or his friends.

D) Unrealistic: Quentyn tamed Viserion, flew away from Daenerys’s rejection, left Meereen and is bolstering Dorne’s defences with his dragon.

 

Oberyn

A) Realistic: Oberyn was always wild and untamed. But he genuinely cared for Elia and was the one to protest the hardest against the Elia/Rhaegar marriage. Even though he lost that battle of words, Elia remembers his defense of her fondly in the coming years.

B) Hilarious: Oberyn’s first love in the animal world were Sandsteed horses. Why? Because one of them kicked him in the head, of course! After getting that kick, he made it his mission in life to tame all the Sand steeds he could. (Not sure if it’s funny, but just imagine Oberyn getting kicked by a horse and rising up with a grin determined to win over it.)

C) Heart-crushing and awful: Inspite of his bravado, Oberyn knew that there was a slim chance of him getting out alive from his duel with the Mountain. But he went through with it, because he wanted justice for Elia. As he was dying, he felt the pain less than the relief that he could finally meet his beloved sister in the afterlife.

D) Unrealistic: Oberyn left Dorne in time to encounter the fleeing Elia and her injured Kingsguard, Ser Jaime Lannister (who was injured in his duel with the Mountain) and got them safely to Dorne. He was reunited with his entire family and lived happily ever after. 


	12. Different Headcanons- Lyarra Stark and Minisa Tully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For anon on Tumblr

Lyarra

A) Realistic: Lyarra Stark was a very politically savvy lady. She and Rickard were equals in her marriage. 

B) Hilarious: Lyarra was terrible with directions. When she and Rickard went for their first ride together, Lyarra got lost and rode in circles for hours, until a very worried Rickard found her. Since then, Rickard never left her side when they travelled.

C) Heart-crushing and awful: Lyarra Stark died before her time, and her death indirectly led to the death of many. If she had been alive, she would have taught her daughter how so many things, and Lyanna would never have left with Rhaegar, nor found herself betrothed to a man she hated.

D) Unrealistic: Lyarra survived her last childbirth, and she, along with Rickard made sure that their children weren’t caught unwary by the world, making House Stark a force to be feared.

 

Minisa

A) Realistic: Minisa found her greatest satisfaction in her children, her family. From the beginning of her marriage to her death, she was the living embodiment of the Tully words: Family, Duty, Honor.

B) Hilarious: When she was younger, Minisa was afraid of basically any water body. A quick dunk in the river by a playful Hoster intensified her fear at first, but, as he kept repeating it over the course of their marriage, it dissolved her fear.

C) Heart-crushing and awful: For all the years she couldn’t give Hoster a son, she was sure that the Curse of Harrenhall was acting on her, making her unable to give Hoster a son to continue their lineage. Even during her last moments, she felt that the Curse had finally put an end to her marriage.

D) Unrealistic: Minisa survives. She goes on to tame Hoster’s more tyrannical tendencies. She intervenes before Lysa and Petyr do something dangerous. Before her death, she makes sure all her children have secure, happy lives. 


	13. Elia, Doran and Oberyn at Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @1nsaan

1\. By the time Elia and Oberyn enter Hogwarts for the first time during their sorting, their elder brother Doran is a sixth year. Elia is sorted into Ravenclaw, the same House as Doran’s, while Oberyn into Gryffindor with Arthur Dayne. 

At first, Elia doesn’t want to be with her older, protective brother. But, as time goes on, she is grateful for his silent support.

The one incident that has always been stuck in Elia’s mind is when she could not answer the Eagle’s question and was stuck outside for hours. She could only go in when a worried Doran, searching frantically for her, found her in the stairwell, led her gently to the Eagle, and answered it’s riddle. Doran held her close until she stopped shuddering from remembered fear, and left only after tucking her in bed.

2\. Elia found it patently unfair that even though she was almost a year older than Oberyn, she was in the same year as him. Oberyn knew that, and, even though he teased her to her face about it, he also made sure that, in every class that Gryffindor and Ravenclaw shared, all his friends knew of her, soon putting her at ease and making her feel contented.

3\. When Elia and Oberyn finally stepped up for their NEWTS, they were horrified to find that the Examination committee was made of their mother and her friends. Poor Oberyn had the worst luck, for Mother, Mother was his examiner. Most of Elia’s batch mates were trying and failing to hold in their laughter at the sight of the daring Oberyn nearly quailing under Mother’s stare after he screwed up once.

One of Oberyn’s friends, the fifth-year Jaime Lannister, also was in the same situation, though he came out of it much better than Oberyn did.

“The lad has an indulgent mother,” mumbled Oberyn, after the exam.

She had never liked Lannister much, fearing him to be alike his sister in both looks and temperament, but she changed her opinion of him when she saw him laughing and letting his Squib brother ride his Patronus. Elia smiled at the child and let him toss her wand around, earning a grateful smile from his brother. 

She liked Jaime Lannister much better from that day.

4\. Elia and Rhaegar Targaryen were having a great relationship, before that mad Targaryen git went and cancelled on her Samahain Ball, leaving her without a date for the lavish Lannister affair. Arthur came upon a distraught Elia when practicing Quidditch with Jaime. Having asked her what the matter was, he immediately went on one knee and asked for the pleasure of her hand as his dance partner in a classic Arthur gesture. She assented, in a friendly manner. 

After getting her assent, Arthur, Jaime and Oberyn cornered Rhaegar near the Forbidden Forest and gave him such a good piece of their minds that the git never dared to look at Elia again.

5\. On the Samahain Ball, Elia was astounded as Arthur shyly confessed that he had wanted to go with her all along, and that if she hadn’t been with Rhaegar, he would have asked for her hand from her parents.

She asked him for some time.

Six months later, Elia proposed to Arthur.

Three weeks later, they were married.

 Scant days after their wedding, Aerys Targaryen presented the greatest threat to the Wizarding World. Elia and all her friends were crucial in the resistance effort. The Martell siblings made a formidable team, what with Oberyn’s dueling, Elia’s healer magic and Doran’s sleuth. Together with the rest of the White Cloaks, they prevailed against Aerys and his cohort.

+1. Elia’s daughter was named Artemisia. Her husband was devoted to her all his life, and Elia had a highly successful career as a Healer.

Oberyn became a great Quidditch star, after experimenting with many career choices. He never settled down with a family life.

Doran became a hlgh-flyer in the Ministry of Magic.

Arthur and Jaime Lannister were the most feared Auror duo among the Dark Wizards.  


	14. Different Headcanons- Daenerys Targaryen of Dorne and Mariah Martell, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @an-oranophobic-maniac on Tumblr. (Jahnvi2505, I think?)

1.  **Mariah Martell**

A)  **Realistic** : Even though she found great happiness with Daeron the Good, her first reaction to the news of her betrothal was disgust. She was a Princess of Dorne, meant to be  _the_ Princess of Dorne. Why was father squandering her like this? She had many spirited arguments with her father regarding the issue, and, at the end, went to Westeros, thinking this:  _I will do this for my people. For Dorne._

B)  **Hilarious** : Mariah had the misfortune of walking into one of her goodfather’s…escapades. From that day on, for a long time, Aegon was terrified of her if she so much as raised an eyebrow.

C)  **Heart-crushing and awful** : Mariah was there in the Old Palace when Daeron’s army sacked it. She had to watch her nanny’s death, and many of her servants’, before a young Knight in a white cloak bore her out of the carnage, shielding her from death. She had nightmares of this all her life.

D)  **Unrealistic** : Baelor is not killed by Maekar. After the Great Spring Sickness, he ascends the throne. Mariah doesn’t have to struggle with the knowledge that her son killed his brother.

2.  **Daenerys Targaryen**

A) **Realistic** :Daenerys was not accepted easily in Dorne. Her very appearance reminded the Dornish of the Young Dragon. But, once she started embracing Dornish culture as her own, the Dornish accepted her. It was a slow process, but at the end of it, she was beloved.

B)  **Hilarious** :Daenerys’s first foray into Dornish food was almost enough to make her swear never to eat again. The first candid question she asked her husband was a blurted out “How do you manage to eat all these spices?”

C)  **Heart-crushing and awful:** Dany had always wanted a mother. She remembered her Mother before Uncle Aemon’s death very faintly, but after Uncle Aemon died, Mother wasn’t a mother anymore. She never got the mother she hungered for afterwards. Mariah was more of a sister, and her goodmother could hardly do the childish things Dany wanted.


	15. Jaime- Memories; Naerys- Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @betza_99

Jaime- Prompt 41-Memories

Sometimes, Jaime Lannister feels like his name itself is just a memory of long lost times, times of happiness and joy. For Jaime, memories are his sanity, both his salvation and his grief.

When he is going away inside, either with the Mad King, or with Robert’s drunken drawling insults, memories of Mama and Cersei and Tyrion are ones that he holds close to his heart, to forget, for the ability not to create new memories filled with grief.

When Jaime is in bed, his memories are twisted into nightmares. He has lost the number of times he’s bolted awake in bed, the memories of Aerys hurting Queen Rhaella turning into false memories of him hurting Mama in his dreams.

Every new day, when anyone says the word “Kingslayer”, Jaime clings to the memory of Mama’s sweet voice. “Jaime”, she says.  _Yes_ , thinks he,  _my name is Jaime._

Note: My headcanon Jaime is a bit of a mama’s boy. I mean, Tywin doesn’t seem like a loving parent, so I headcanon that Joanna was a loving mama.

 

Naerys- Prompt 9-Music

Naerys has always associated music with peace, with calm. Music had the power to make her forget all the worries of her life. As a child, she could forget that she was sickly, that she could not run and play when she had a lute in her hand. 

Aemon loved to hear Naerys sing. So her voice made her happy, too, for her Mo was happy with it. Even when they grew into adulthood, Naerys and Aemon bonded over a shared love of music.

But, above all, music made Naerys feel closer to the Seven. Every day, when she woke up in the morning, she’d go to the Sept and sing the Mother’s hymn. 

Regardless of how Aegon hurt her in her life, the Mother made Naerys believe that, somewhere, somehow, she could be happy.


	16. Elia as Queen Regent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @1nsaan

1\. Elia’s first decree as Queen Regent was to declare that, at all the sessions of her court, anyone was welcome to approach her personally with their problems.

After years of Aerys’s madness, Elia wanted to be a breath of fresh air for the people of King’s Landing.

 _Perhaps_ , Elia thought,  _I can forget how helpless I was, that I stood unseeing when madness consumed the Realm, if I try all I can to make things better._

No matter how hard she tried, she never could forget.

But she lived, and she strived, and she could see hope in the horizons.

 

2. _All these people who lusted after power,_ Elia thought,  _did not know how exhausting it was to wield it._

Elia knew how it was to smile and nod at grasping men, to pretend and simper at people she knew were wishing ill of her.

Elia, after all, had to be polite and courteous to Mace Tyrell, of all people, as he blustered his way into King’s Landing, expecting to be welcomed as a conquering hero, when all he had done was feast and play at war.

“You did very well, Princess,” complimented Ashara with a smile when all was said and done. Elia doubted it.

 

3\. Meeting Lord Stark was one of the most difficult things that Elia had ever done.

Elia remembered his cold demeanor, the awkwardness that surrounded both of them, even as he had knelt and sworn his fealty.

“Lord Stark”, said Elia, after the formalities were over, “I know where your sister is.”

It should not matter to Elia, but, oh, it does. Lyanna Stark was in Dorne, her homeland. Her husband, no, Rhaegar Targaryen, that man was not her husband, not anymore, had dishonored her in her own homeland, and it hurt.

But no matter. Eddard Stark was not Lyanna, and whatever else the man was, he was innocent of his sister’s sins.

So Elia tells him where the girl is, and is gratified to see gratitude flash in his eyes.

 

4\. Lyanna Stark cannot look Elia in the eye when she stands across Elia. Elia gives the girl an impassive once-over, noticing the child in her arms. Try as she might, she cannot forget that this child was meant to be a threat to her children.

“Lady Lyanna”, she says, her quiet voice echoing in the silence. “I do not wish to know of the circumstances surrounding your…relationship with Rhaegar Targaryen, but know this. Your child will never be allowed to stand against mine.” Lyanna Stark looks shocked, and stiffens, as if she expected Elia to kill the babe there and then.

But Elia was not Lyanna Stark. She did not think that a child should pay for the sins of his sire. 

Elia steps forward. “I offer to foster your son in the Keep when he is old enough. Much like Ormund Baratheon and Aegon Targaryen, my Aegon and your Jon Snow shall grow as true brothers.” Elia does not miss Lyanna’s flinch at the  _Snow_ , but Elia cannot bring herself to care.

 

5\. Elia does not give the courtesy of even a glance to the three Kingsguard. As far as she was concerned, they aided and abetted to her dishonor.

Arthur Dayne stays behind after the others leave. “I am sorry, Princess,” he murmurs quietly, eyes cast on the floor.

Elia does not reply, even as both Arthur and Jaime Lannister look at her.

A few weeks later, when the wound is somewhat healed, she smiles at Arthur, and both of them are happy, if only for a fleeting moment.

 

+1 When Aegon turns 16 and the crown of Kings graces his brow, Jon Snow stands at his left and Elia at his right.  _Aegon Targaryen, the sixth of his name,_  Elia thought, proud of her son. The years of toil were worth it, Elia knew.

Hope I did the prompt justice, buddy!


	17. Young Griff- Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @1nsaan

Whenever anyone called him Young Griff, Aegon would think of his true name.  _Aegon Targaryen_. He would strain as much as he could to find one memory, one lone memory of his mother, even the father he does not like, no matter how Jon praised him.

Instead, when Jon Connington talked on and on of his Silver Prince, Aegon could not help thinking ‘ _He abandoned my mother for someone else. I was never as important to him as I was to mother’._  But when Aegon asked Lord Connington of Princess Elia, his mother, the man just looked disgruntled.

So Aegon found other sources. Septa Lemore used to know her, and she helped Aegon build a mental picture of her. She was good, kind, gentle. She had smooth brown skin. She had dimples when she smiled.

Some things he added in his imagination of his elusive mother. She wore jasmines in her hair. She used to hold him close. He had a sister who loved him, who played with her cat along with Aegon himself.

In the loneliness of the dark nights, Aegon clung to these imaginary memories for comfort. And he dreamt of a laughing lady swinging him around and wrapping him in a hug.

Aegon Targaryen woke up with a smile.


	18. Naerys- Religion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @betza_99

For Naerys, religion is…hope. As a small child asking Septa Lyra for her mother, she learnt of the Mother Above, who loves and cherishes every child, and it does not matter if she is small and frail.   
The Seven keep hope alive in her, hope for the present, for the future, for they gave her Daeron and Aemon.  
The Seven are her solace, for she is free to be herself with them, they do not demand anything of her.  
The Seven do not disappoint. No, that’s wrong. Naerys remembered praying to her Gods for freedom from Aegon. Freedom that she did not get.   
Nevertheless, the Seven gave her peace, and they gave her strength. Strength to bear Aegon, and still be herself. Still be Naerys.   
For that, she was grateful.


	19. Elia/Baelor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elia/Baelor for anon on Tumblr.

Elia stammers, red in the face, at Baelor’s question. “Princess?” He prods gently. “Surely I am not so funny to look at. Or am I?” Baelor’s eyes are amused as he puts the question forward.

Elia shakes her head. “Then?” She musters the courage to look into his eyes. “My Lord, it was merely a joke…” “Pray tell me the joke, my lady. I am a man who enjoys them.” “Well, after the…unfortunate incident at the feast,” Elia begins, her eyes shifting from Baelor’s. He takes a moment to understand, then it is his turn to redden. “Oberyn dubbed you…an insulting name. I could not stop thinking of it. I am sorry to have offended you.” Baelor’s reaction takes her by surprise. He laughs. There is a twinkle in his eyes as he asks, “And what exactly is the name in question?” Mischief rears its head in Elia as she raises her head, looks at Baelor eye to eye and says, quietly, “Baelor Breakwind.” 

Baelor looks at her for a moment, wide eyed. Then he laughs again, and the knot in Elia’s stomach eases. “I see Prince Oberyn has a wicked sense of humor. I wish him the joy of it.” 

After that awkward moment, talking to Baelor is much easier, especially now that she can look at him without laughing. Elia finds herself telling him of home, of her friends, her hobbies, herself. She receives back everything in kind for he is as open with her as she with him.

So it is not entirely unexpected that Elia finds herself holding a sapphire and amber ring, a kneeling Baelor in front of her in the shaded arbor of a garden, hidden from prying eyes. He has a grin on his face. “Will you deign, my lady?” “I do deign, my lord,” says Elia, tugging him to his feet and claiming his lips in a kiss.


	20. Elia & Viserys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elia and Viserys for anon on Tumblr

Queen Rhaella holds a finger to her lips as she and Elia approach the nursery. Elia smiles. In the dim light of the nursery, she can see a baby swaddled tightly in white furs, the lamplight illuminating his silver hair. “Viserys,” the Queen whispers. “I am sorry, daughter, that I could not present him to you earlier, but…” Elia smiles. “Think nothing of it, mother.” 

Viserys trails after her as only a child can. Elia, apparently, is more indulgent than his brother. And Elia also relishes the unconditional attention of the child. His questions, at first amusing, soon take a serious turn. A serious turn that Elia cannot answer about. So she placates him with songs and stories. Soon, he refuses to go to bed without her tucking him in.

When Elia herself is pregnant, Viserys is very conscious of her welfare. Elia smiles fondly as the boy bustles about, always trying to do some small kindness for her. He is a kind child, she muses.

When Rhaenys is born, he takes to her immediately. The two become inseparable as she grows. When her kitten, Balerion, takes to his long-winded jaunts in the Red Keep that generally result in a lost cat, Rhaenys is inconsolable. It is Viserys who mollifies her at least a little, when he gently nudges a soft plush cat toward her. From then on, whenever her cat of flesh is missing, Rhaenys holds on to her soft friend without fail.

Viserys, Elia and her children share moments aplenty. Moments sweet and fond, and far too short. 


End file.
